I had serious problems getting into a good wash routine when we switched to all pockets. I ended up stripping all my pockets with Dawn first, per advice from the mothering message boards. You can hand scrub them or use dawn in a (top-loading) washing machine. (You do have to be careful with the amount of Dawn in a washing machine though, my dad used to be an appliance repairman and says it is totally possible to get the sitcom, bubbles-going-everywhere thing happening.) Wash and rinse over and over, until all the bubbles and any smell are gone. Then this was the wash routine I ended up with:

Prewash Cycle on cold
Cold wash/rinse with detergent
Hot wash/cold rinse with vinegar

If I was not up to washing twice I would do:

Extra long prewash on cold
hot wash /cold rinse with detergent and vinegar in a Downy ball (so it would be released in the rinse cycle)

Caleb is actually potty-training so I just packed my pockets away and I have to say I was glad to not be washing them anymore. We're just using prefolds around the house now and I'm having no problems with them.

April

 

I would suggest trying the stripping, too. If that doesn't work, I have to admit that I've had to use a VERY small amount of bleach sometimes in a load... I'll just throw all of my diapers into one load (since we have a front loading washer) and in the first round, I'll just do a hot cycle, and then I'll do the second cycle with the detergent and the small amount of bleach... and then putting them outside to line dry in the sun also can help tremendously! Honestly, you don't want to do the bleach thing too often, especially on pockets because you can make the waterproofing die out as well as ruin the elastic in the legs (I learned this the hard way!) Jacqui

If you do the Dawn, I have read it is best to use the blue Original Dawn formula. Don't know why.

We have had problems occasionally, but it has been a while. It is usually a soap problem. My routine is cold soak with baking soda (I just dump a fair amount in, I have no idea how much), a 1/4 of a scoop of charlies soap, and I put vinegar in the fabric softener dispenser. After 30-60 minutes, I drain the cold water, then run it on a hot wash without adding anything else. Sometimes I don't use any soap, and I don't have a problem with smelly diapers. Not clean ones anyway.

I have foud that using baking soda, or baking soda wash and vinegar has helped tremendously! Also about once a month I give a good squezze of blue dawn to help strip the build up. sometimes not using enough detergent can cause stinkies also. Have you tried soap nuts? they work great, I have some if you would like to try them before buying them. jlmk

I know some mamas who swear by thyme EO to get the smell out of cloth dipes. Just mix with water in a spray bottle and spray before you wash. I don't have personal experience with this, but it's worth a try. When I was washing diapers, I used Biokleen. I think that hot water is key to washing diapers and keeping the smells at bay.

I want to include a fabulous link with information I often use. It rates and ranks detergents for their effectiveness on cloth diapers. It also includes some other good information about cloth diaper care.

http://pinstripesandpolkadots.com/d...hoices.htm

I'm going to sticky this as well. I think this is an important topic that tends to come up a LOT.

The sunlight suggestion is brilliant. Sunlight is nature's great cleanser.